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T h e N a t i o n a l M a g a z i n e o f A M B A S S A D O R C O L L E G E

What Is the MILLENNIUM? Thousaids of you have heard of the millennium. But do you know what it is, when it will occur, and where it will take place?

By Marion McNaiy

M ILLIONS today are under a curse because they are believing a counterfeit gospel. The apostle

Paul pronounced a double curse on any man or angel who would preach any other gosF:l than the one which he preached (Galatians 1 : 8 ,9 ) .

The truth about the millennium is a part of this ONE true gospel (Acts 28 :31) . It’s vitally important that we understand the meaning of the millennium lest we be under this curse.

Some say we will spend the millennium in heaven. Others say we will be on earth, during which times the dead are resurrected. Many large church denominations believe the millennium to be this church age. In the Middle Ages i t was believed that the millennium was nccurring because Christ, they said, was ruling in the persons of the Pope and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Em- pire.

Amid this confusion-for these doctrines can’t all be right-we need the Bible answer. Just what does God reveal about the millennium?

Where It Is Meniioned in the Bible I’m sure that yau have never seen the

word “millennium“ in your Bible. YOU see, the word “millennium” is derived from the Latin and French and simply means a thousand years. Instead of find- ing the word “millennium,” you will read in the scriptures of the “thousand years.” The only scriptures in all the Bible mentioning this specific period of time are in Revelation 20: 1-9. Here we must find the answers.

The apostle John sees a n angel who “laid hold on the dragon, that old ser- pent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years . . . and set a seal upon him, that be ~ b o u l d deceitfie the n4wz.r no ~ ‘ Z O Y L ’ , +ill the thousand years jbould he fulfilled.” (Rev. 20:2-3)

Did you notice that? During the millennium, the devil does not deceive the nations. This church age couldn’t be the millennium, because the devil IS STILL DECEIVING THE NATIONS The millennium must yet be in the future, and it’s a time when the devil will not be deceiving people any longer.

Notice what else the apostle John says about the thousand years.

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand. years” (Rev. 20:6).

So the millennium is also a time when the saints reign with Christ.

WHEN the Millennium Will Occur

Did you ever notice before that those zn the first resurrection will reign with Christ a thousand years! (Rev. 20:4) . This means that the millennium can’r begin until AFTER the first resurrection, because it is those in the fir.rt rerurrer- t i o n who do the ruling.

Now when does the first resurrection occur? i Thessalonians 4:14-17 and I Corinthians 15 : 52 declare that the first resurrection occurs at the second coming of Christ. “The Lord himself shall

descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them ir, the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” The first resurrection occurs “at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. “

Since the saints do not rise until the second coming of Christ, and since they rule with Christ during the millennium, then the thousand years must occur after the second coming of Christ, and NOT before. This is vitally important because there are some who teach that Jesus does not come until the end of the thousand years. But your Bible says Jesus comes at the beginning of the thousand years.

But what else happens when the lajt trump sounds?

In Revelation 11: 15-19, when the last or seventh trumpet blows, the dead are raised AND “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.”

This is when the millennium begins! Christ is starting to reign and the saints are already resurrected to rule with Christ. But where shall w r rule?

WHERE Will the Millennium Be Spent?

The last phrase of I Thessalonians 4 : 17 tells us that after we meet the

The GOOD NEWS May, 1952

Lord in the air we shall “ever be with the Lord.” Since we shall always be with Jesus Christ, then any scripture that tells us where Christ will be. will also explain whew we shull be during the thousand years. Also a verse that says where the saints shall rule during the thousand ycars, explains the place where Christ must be ruling, too!

Now consider this. In order to reign during the millennium, there must be someone for the saints to reign over. Over whom does Christ give the saints power and authority to rule?

Notice Revelation 2 : 26-27. Jesus promises: “And he that overcometh . . . will I give power o w r t h e nations: and he shall R U L E them with a rod of iron.” So thc saints will rule o w r the nation. And these nations will be ruled with a rod of iron.

In the last days of the kings or rulers of this present civilization. “shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people (not to human beings, but to the sons of G o d ) , but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forcvcr.” ( Dan. 2 : 4 4 )

Notice, that it is “in the days of these kings,” not a thousand years later that Cod sets up His kingdom under Christ -pictured by the stone that smote the image (Dan. 2 : 34,;) j --wiiich “becrime a great mountain, and FILLED THE WHOLE EARTH.” It doesn’r fill heaven

How absurd t o say that these nations are in heaven! Are there such sinful nations in heaven that the saints have to rule them with an iron rod? Of course not. These are the nations of thiJ earth. If we are ruling the nations of this earth, then Christ must be ruling o n this earth too because we shall always be with Him.

Now let’s find scriptures telling us where Christ will rule. In Rev. 3:21, Jesus said this: “To him that overcometh will I grant t o sit w i th m e in my throne. even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.” So we will sit with Christ O N HIS THRONE while ruling the nations.

At the present moment Christ is sitting o n His Father’s throne in heaven. (Rev. 3 :21) H e is NOT sitting o n H i s own throne. But when Jesus leaves heaven (Acts 3:21) to come for the saints, we are promised a place with H i m on His throne. Jesus does not promise us a place on the Father’s throne in heaven, but a place on His own throne, from which we shall rule the nations with a rod of iron.

BUT IT IWES 1 i I . I . THE EARTH.

Where will Jesus’ throne be? The throne of Jesus Christ could not

be in hevclen. If Jesus’ throne were

the Father’s throne. in heaven, then H e would not need his own throne because He is already sitting on the Father’s &one. But what throne will Jesus have?

Gabriel said, as recorded in Luke 1:30-33, that Jesus “shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father Davzd: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

So Jesus’ throne will be the throne of Dmd. David’s throne is o n this earth! (Jer. 33:17.) T h e Father’s throne is in heaven. During the millennium, we shall sit with Christ o n the throne of David and rule the nations of this earth.

Not only will Christ rule over the house of Jacob forever, as Gabriel said, but it is also written: “Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee t h e heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod o f iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” (Psalm 2:7-9)

Here the Psalmist says that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, will do the very same things that He promised we shall do. Of course, for we shall rule WITH HIM and carry out His will and authori- cy over [he natio:? This is the t i n e s of restitution of all things [Acts 3 : 2 1 ) , when blindness will be removed from Israel (Romans 11:25-26) , and when the Eternal sets his hand the second tinhe to recover the remnant of His people. (Isaiah 11: l l ) This is when the Kingdom will be restored to Israel and when Christ shall rule the house of Jacob o n the throne of David. (Acts 1 : 6 j .

If all these scriptures are not proof enough that we shall reign with Christ o n thi.r earth, and not in heaven, during the millennium, then turn to Revela- tion 5: 10. Here a song is sung about the saints. Christ has redeemed us- you and me--“out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made UJ unto our God kings and priests: AND WE SHALL REIGN ON THE EARTH.”

Here it is in the plainest of language. W e shall reign, not in heaven, but on t h e earth. Do you believe what the Bible says?

HOW and W H E N Jesus Returns to Earth

In Acts 1:9-11 the account of Jesus’ departure nineteen hundred years ago is given. “While they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men . . . said. Ye

men ot Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken u p from you into heaven, shall so come in l ike manner a.r ye have reen him go into heaven.”

How did Jesus leave? H e ascended from the Mount of Olives and was received by the clouds of heaven. And IIe is going to return in like manner. Let’s find a scripture explaining this.

In Revdation 19 we read that, at the second coming of Christ, all nations are gathered to battle against Jerusalem. This same time, the second coming of Christ, is described in Zechariah 14: 1-3. It is in the day,of the Lord when all nations are warring against Jerusalem.

“THEN shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations . . . AND HIS FEET SHALL STAND I N THAT DAY UPON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.” (Zech. 14: 3,4)

Notice it, Jesus is coming in the clouds of heaven (Rev. 1 : 7 ) and shall fight against the nations AND HIS FEET

THE MOUNT OF OLIVES which is on this earth. It does not say that Jesus will stand on the Mount a thousand years latcr, but in thut duy as Hc rcturns to receive the throne of David and to rule the nations with a rod of iron.

SHALL STAND I N THAT DAY UPON

IIe Remains ON T I I B E A R T I I

When Jesus ieturns to earth, we will be with Him-we will “ever be with rhe I n r d . ” Hr comes in t h e clouds of this earth’s armosphere wherein we meet H i m and then we accompany H i m LO this carth. That is where rue shall be.

But s ~ n i e contend that we return to heaven irnmediatcly. T h e Bible no where teaches any such doctrine. Ixt’s continue reading what Zechariah wrote.

“And it shall be in that clay (notice, it is still the same day, not seven years or a thousand years la ter) , that living waters (salvation) shall go out from Jerusalem . . . in summer and in PI’ linter shall it be. And the Lord shall be king over ALL THE EARTH . . . and the land shall bc turncd as a plain . . . AND I N - HABITED . . . And m e n shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.” ( Zechariah 14: 8-1 1 1

In the day that Christ returns, not a thousand years later, but in that very day, when the nations that battled against Jerusalem are subdued, the land shall be inhabited and MEN SHALL LIVE THERE. And the Gentile nations after their cntirc armies have been dcstroycd (Zech. 14:12-15), shall come to serve Jesus Christ. “And it shall come to pass, that every one that i s left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up f r o m year to yeur to warship

Please continue on page 10

What Will YOU Be Like in the Resurrection ?

W h a t kind of body will w e have? I t will be of a dif ferent T Y P E and for a di f ferent PLJRPOSE than you have probably imagined!

By Dr. C. P. Meredith F YOU could examine the kind of

body you will have when you are I resurrected LO iiirmortality, it would clear up a great many questions in your mind, would it not?

SOMEONE HAS ALREADY ACQUIRED

W I L L HAVE and that person is JESUS CHRIST!

Family of God GOD, the FATHER, has desired to

form for himself, and f r o m his very L.rLwg, a F A M l L Y of immortal children who will be partabers of his own di?ine nature (I1 Peter 1:4 and Psalms 17:15), and who can be trusted with great power and on whom he can lavish his love by sharing with them all that he has cre- ated. THIS F A M I L Y will compose the KINGDOM OF GOD because you must be horn of God to enter it.

Being a God of order, he has established laws which mankind must obey i r i order co be admitted to this family. We must show. in advance, our willing- nesJ to be obedient t o H i m by having these laws wrirten in our hearts and minds (I1 Cor. 3: 3 ) .

If we are not obedient, then we sin ( I John 3 : 4 ) , and the wages of sin is established as death (Romans 6:23) . Eternal death! “ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Ro- mans 3 : 2 3 ) -ALL of mortal mankind that God ever made were doomed to die!

Most certainly there could be no FAMILY of GOD formed from these mortal people if they were to be dead forever!

It was at this point that the WORD, who was soon to become the SON of GOD, sacrificed the GLORY of being God to BECOME FLESH AND BLOOD JUST LIKE YOU AND I, (Hebrews 2 : 1 4 ) , so he could die in place of u s for our sins. N o wonder we owe so much to Christ!

Family Beginning Now notice, very carefully, the BEGET-

TAL of the FATHER’S VERY FIRST SON, who would later, after his physical ilenth, be born ifzto the FAMILY OF GOD! The angel, speaking to Mary concerning Christ’s future birth, said, “The HOLY

THE SAME TYPE OF BODY THAT YOU

SPIRIT shall come upon thee, and the POWER of the highest shall over-shadow thee: therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the SON OF GOD.” (Luke 1 : 35 ) .

The angel said to Joseph, Mary’s husband: “. . . fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is CON- CEIVED (o r BEGOTTEN) is of the HOLY SPIRIT.”

Two things happened here: Christ was begotten as a mortal man and PHYS- ICAL BIRTH took place shortly thereafter

HOLY SPIRIT at that time. At the end of his physical l i fe he died

a PHYSICAL DEATH in the place of all mortal men who would have died for their own sin, BUT-ut hi.! resurrection he was born AGAIN-Lhir t ime a sPI’.’- ITUAL BIRTII bccausc he hod been be- got ten by the Hol:; S f , ?it. This rime he was born into the SPIRIT FAMILY of GOD with a SPIRITUAL BODY! ( I Cor. 15: 44, 45 ) .

“-Except a man be BORN AGAIN he cannot see (or enter) the kingdom (or family) of God.” (John 7 : 7 , 5 ) . “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.” ( I Cor. 1 5 : 4 4 ) . “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” ( I Cor. 1 5 : S O ) . “That which is born of flesh i s fEesh; and that which is born of Spirit is spirit.” ( John 3:6) . Christ’s physical body, which did not corrupt, was changed inro spirit like that of the Father. God is spirit ( j o h n 4 : 2 4 ) .

Christ Our Brother It was the HOLY SPIRIT of GOD, put

there by the Father at Christ’s human begettal and dwelling in Christ, by which the FATIICR rcsurrccted him with an ammortal SPIRITUAL BODY and, he has promised to give you and me the same reward IF w e now let God beget us with the impregnating germ of eternal life, His Holy Spirit!

“_ . . if the Spirit of him that raised u p Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by t h e Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Romans 8: 11). To “quicken” is to make eternal- ly alive!

By repenting and being baptized, YOU

-AND-he was also BEGOTTEN BY THE

and I, who are made of t he rame MORTAL FLESH which Christ took on himself by having Mary as his mother ( Heb. 2 : 1 4 ) , may also receizje t h e gif t . or, in other words, R E BEGOTTEN OF, the Holy Spir- it!

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN! IT MEANS that when Y O I ~ and I are resurrected, CHRIST BECOMES OLiH ELDEST LIKOTHER ill the S P r R I l FAM1I.Y of GO[). for ui/ have the same FATHER, ~ i l i are begotten of the same SPIKIT--GOI)’S SPIRIT-and d/ are born into [he same F A M I L Y ! ( Ko- mans 6 : 2 0 ; Hebrews 2 : 11. 1 2 )

1.1- M E A N S that as Christ will be our elder brother the?/, YOU and I W I L L

HE HAS! “We shall be like him.” ( I John 3 : 2 )

New Body for New Work

tween the body we now have and the one we ~ i , i l l have is that while chis one is a natural or mortal body the one we shall have will be a different, a SPIRIT- UAL BODY: “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a Spiritual body.” ( I Corin- thians 15:44) . If we are alive at the time of the resurrection, our mortal bodies will be changed jusr like an egg becomes, or is changed into a chick. If we have died, our character comes forth out of the dust in a spiritual body which God gives through His Holy Spirit from heaven ( II Cor. 5 : 2 ) . This is a different kind of resurrection than to mortal life as described in Ezek. 37.

Also we read: “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so i s everyone that is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) . Spirit is not subject to physical laws because it is not matter.

Jesus Christ could SUDDENLY APPEAR: “-and as they thus spoke, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified. . .” (Lukc 24:36-37) .

H e also had the ability to VANISH after he was resurrected: “. . . and he vanished out of sight.” (Luke 2 4 : 3 1 ) .

We shall be able to PASS THROUGH BARRIERS or walls as Christ did: “Then the same day at evening . , . WHEN

H A V E T H E SAME‘ K I N D OF BODY THAT

?’he OUTSTANI‘!NG DIFFERENCE br-


The national magazine of AMBASSADOR COLLEGE

ministering 10 The Church of God sca.ttered abroad, and

reporting on campus happenings

VOL. 11 NUMBER 5

Herbert W. Armstrong Publisher and Editor

Herman L. Hoeh, Executive Editor Raymond Cole, Marion McNair,

Raymond McNair, Norman Smith Associate Editors

Owen Smith. C,rmprrs Editor Kenneth Herrniann, Science Editor

Dick Armstrong. Picture Editor Rod Meredith, Sporls Editor

Sent free on personal request, as the Lord provides. Address communica- tions 10 the Editor. Box 1 f 1, Pasadena, California.

~ -~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~ ~ ~-~

~ ~ . .

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THE Doon3 WEXE .jHU’C where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst. . . .” ( John Z O : 1 9 ) .

W e will be able to TRAVEL RAPIDLY through space. In John 20:17 Christ says: “Touch m e not for I am not yet ascended t o nq Fccther. . . . I ’ N o w note that on. the same day Christ had been ab!e to travel to the Father and return: “And as they went to tell his disciples, behold; Jesus met them, saying All hail. And they came and held him by the feet” (Matt. 28:9).

The eating of FOOD will not be necessary although we may eat for pleasure as did Jesus with his disciples (Luke 24:41-41) , and, of Course. N O SHELTER will be necessary.

W h e n desirable, we will be able to CHANGE into a BODY of PHYSICAL FLESH A N D BONE so mortal eyes can see us: “. . . Jesus himself stood in the midst of them (after the crucifixion) . . . but they were terrified and supposed that they had seen a spirit . . . and he said . . . Behold my hands and my feet, that it i t I myself: handle me and see; for a spirit bath not /lf.rh m d bones. AS ye see me have.” (Luke 24: 36-39). A spirit has flesh and bones, but it is spiritual flesh and bones, composed of spirit, not phy.ricccl AS the disciples saw Jesus. Since man is in the image of God, both man and God must have form and shape,

hence flesh and bone; but one physical, the other spiritual. W e will not change into flesh and blood because the life we shall have is not from the blood but from the Spirit of God. (Lev. 1 7 : l l ; John 6:63; 11 Cor. 3:6).

Now, what about the WORK we are to d o in the 1000 years of Christ’s and

lation 20:4 and Isaiah 11 chapter), in relation to these new, powerful bodies which are like Jesus’ and the Father’s.

W e know that we shall be JUDGES (Revelation 20: 1-4) , and PRIESTS (Revelation 20:6), and RULERS (Reve- lation 2 0 : 4 ) of God and Christ on thiJ earth (Revelation 5 : 1 0 ) . To govern all the great number of human beings, who at that time will need guidance (Isaiah 2 : l - 5 , 9:6-7; Jeremiah 3 1 : l - 9 ) so that they can also be begotten and be born into the FAMILY OF GOD, we will certainly need the kind of body that Christ and the Father possess (Isaiah 40:28 and 31) .

This certainly does not say that, at

OUT rule HERE ON THIS EARTH (Reve-

RADIO LOG “The WORLD TOMORROW” Herbert W . Armstrong analyzes today’s news, with the prophecies of The WORLD TOMORROW!

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death, we go at once t o heaven, and lie around in idleness and ease, does it? NO! And the Bible WES NOT teach it! (Zechariah 14th Chapter). W e will havc work to do according to the PLAN REVEALED ONLY I N THE BIBLE! We shall be teachers visibly manifested to human beings (Isaiah 30:20) . W i t h bodies that can d o without food or shelter and which can travel so rapidly, those called now can accomplish a n im- mense amount in guiding large numbers of people and in governing the uni- verse with God!

Glorified Bodies We have now seen that OUR BODIES

are to be resurrected as SPIRITUAL bodies ( I Corinthians 15:44) , and that we will be able to change into physical FLESH and BONE (Luke 24:39) in different forms (Mark 16:12) .

But there is something else that is going to happen to OUR SPIRITUAL BODIES-something that Christ consid- ered VERY IMPORTANT! Notice what Christ said to the FArHEn in finishing His work here o n this earth!

“I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do. And now, 0 Father, GLORIFY THOU ME WITH THINE OWN SELF with the GLORY WHICH I HAD WITH THEE BEFORE THE WORLD WAS.” (John ! 7 : 5 ) .

Christ said “I have GLORIFIED THEE. . . .” How? In raising people from the dead, healing, and performing miracles he had GLORIFIED GOD by showing to man ONLY A PART of GOD’S GREAT POWER! Soon Christ was going to be back with the FATHER again and he looked forward to being RESTORED to the GREAT POWER HE ONCE HAD! TO

ER AND GLORY! BE GLORIFIED MEANS TO BE GIVEN POW-

BUT what has that to do with us? GOD IS GOING TO GLORIFY YOU and ME ALSO-going to GIVE YOU and ME GREAT POWER! “The Spirit itself bear- eth witness with our spirit, that we are CHILDREN OF GOD‘ and i f children, then heirs of God and JOINT-HEIRS WITH CHRIST; if so be that we suffer with him that WE (You and I ) MAY BE ALSO GLORIFIED TOGETHER. (Romans 8: 17 and I1 Cor. 3 : l S ) . This prospect leaves us breathless, yet there it is in your own BIBLE! Read it! God has promised it and HE WILL DO IT! ( I Cor. 15:43) .

This power we shall have will be so great that it will MAKE OUR SPIRIT BODIES SHINE as the SUN and our raiment be white as the light. Jesus gave us a fleeting glimpse of this future condition when he was transfigured while Peter, James, and John looked on: “. . . till they see the Son of man coming in


The History and Truth A b o u t Pen tecost !

Wbat is the REAL ORIGIN of Pentecost? Where did Cutholics, Lutherans and others get the custom of obserting “Pentecost Sunday” each year? Does God command us to observe Pentecost?

By Herman L. Hoeh

T IS AN almost universal belief that the New Testament Church was I founded on Sunday. Probably each

of us has heard from childhood, too, that the coming of the Holy Spirit originated the day of Pentecost.

Have you really investigated the Bi- ble and history to see if these doctrines really came from Scripture:’

Did the New Testament Church really begin on Sunday? W h a t does the Bible say about the origin of Pentecost?

Here fur chc first time are the startling facts which prove that the New Testament Church was NOT founded on Sunday, that Pentecost did NOT originate when the Holy Spirit came into the disciples, that the day of Pentecost did NOT occur fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus.

In this article you will learn that the inspired true church, under the guidance of the apostles, observed the correct day of Peiitrcosr annually; and how the apostate universal- church thought to CHANGE THE DAY OF PENTECOST which most Protestants have totally for- gotten.

Yes, I know you haven’t heard the truth about Pentecost from the average pulpit, but it’s time for you to get the chance to learn the truth which has been hidden from you for centuries. So let’s understand the real meaning of Pente- cost which is part of the faith once delivered to the saints.

Pentecost Centuries Before A.D. 31 In writing the book of Acts, Luke

gives us this significant statement: “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they ( t h e disciples) were all with one accord in one place.” Notice that in this first verse of Acts 2, the day of Pentecost WAS ALREADY FULLY COME and the disciples WERE ill one accord BEFORE the Holy Spirit descended into them that day.

This account proves that Pentecost existed BEFORE the Holy Spirit came on that day in A.D. 31. Also notice that there were thousands of devout Jews gathered together in Jeriisalern for this day. (Acts 2:5-12) These Jews did nor come to receive the Holy Spirit. They

were unconverted, but devout men, who were not as yet the disciples of Jesus and who did not yet know the way of salvation. They had to ask Peter, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37)

Now, WHY were all these people gathered together o n this day!

T o understand, we must know the meaning of the word Pentecost. It is from a Greek word and means “count fifty.” All scholars and Bible students know that kntecost-comt jifty-is merely the Greek name for one of the annual holy days God revealed to the children of Israel. Peloubet’s Eiblc Dic- tionary says: “Pentecost, that is, the fiftierh day . . . or Harvest Feast, or Feast of Weeks.” It was also called tile Festival of First Fruits and was appointed each year by L-ozuifiug f i f i y days from the day the wave sheaf was offered. (Lev. 23:11,15)

So the origin of Pentecost was not at the corning of the Holy Spirit in A.D. 31, but over fifteen hundred years before that time! It was to celebrate this festive day, that devout Jews from many lands, as uiell as t he disciples of Jesus. had assembled at Jerusalem.

Instead of abolishing the day of Pen- tecose, or feast of first fruits, or His death, as you have been falsely told by many churches, Christ told His disciples to be in Jerusalem that day so that they might receive the Holy Spirit, the divine power of God. (Acts 1 :4) God honored His day of first fruits (Ex. 23:16; Deut. 16:lO) or Pentecost, by giving the first fruits of His Spirit to those that obey Him. (Acts 5 : 3 2 )

We shall soon see the special reasofz why God sent the Spirit this day and also the special meaning of the day of Pentecost FOR US TODAY!

Pentecost in the N e w Testament Church

W h e n originally given by God, the day of Pentecost was commanded to be observed forever. (Lev. 23 : 2 1 ) Jesus never abolished Pentecost- nor any of the other annual Holy Days. T h e day of Pentecost nIn OCCUR after C h r i d s death that year as Luke records.

N o n e of these annual festivals had

burnt offerings or sacrifices o n them when originally instituted. (Jeremiah 7:22,23) The sacrifices were added to these days and to every day of the year (Exodus 29:38) as a par t of the service of the Levitical priesthood.

W h e n the sacrifices and offerings were consumated in the death of Christ oncc for all, these usual onerings ceased to be made f o ~ the c-o?z.rrience (Heb. 9: 13,14) by those who were converted and who believed in Christ. But the command that Pentecost be observed forezaer as ;L Sabbath and convocation still remained. (Lev. 23:21 ) That is why the apostles and disciples were gathered together with all the devout Jews o n this occasion. If the disciples had not gathered on this day which was sacrtcl t o God . the) , fdd ? J O G have been

e ibc. aifi of G o d , His Spirit.

Even after rhe Holy Spirit came, Pentecost did not cease. Instead of being a memorial of the material harvest of the first fruit of the land alone, Pen- tecost, or the Festival of Harvest or First Fruits, had now a greater meaning. It became a memorial also of the f i rst fruitr of the Holy Spirit which makes possible the first hawest of human beings for the Kingdom of God.

Not only did the Jewish Christians know this, but also Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, understood that this annual Sabbath was still commanded by God for His spiritual church. He “de- termined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time i n Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem t he day of Pente- cost.” (Acts 20: 16)

Paul) the teacher of the Gentiles, wanted to keep Pentecost thirty years after the death of Christ!

At another time Paul spent the day of Pentecost in Ephesus, a Gentile city. ( I Cor. 16:8) Yes, Pentecost, together with the other annual festivals, was oh- served by all those of the true original church which was under divine instruc- tion from the apostles. (Acts 18:21; 12:3; 20:6; 27:3; I Cor. 5 : 8 ; 11:20- 3 4 ) Gentiles received the praise of Paul for following the churches of God


in Judaea-the Jewish brethren. ( I Thess. 2 : 14)

Pentecost Centuries After A.D. 31 With the death of the apostles, a

great chunge occwred, which most of you have never been told about. A ter- rible apostacy set in among the churches of God. Paul warned the Ephesians with whom he observed Pentecost, as we have already seen, that “after my de- parting shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking pertterse things, to draw disciples after them.” (Acts ZU:29,30) “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” ( 2 Tim. 4 : 3 )

Here is the place Paul warned Chris- tians about the very fables that most of you have been taught since childhood by an apostate Christianity.

By the time Jude wrote his epistle, the fables of which Paul warned had already srnrted. He exhorts: “YOU should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there arc certain mcn crept in un- awarrb.” (Jude 3,4) There were both lewish and Gentile deceivers as we shall see.

Almost every church history will contain the information proving that many Christians of Jewish parentage returned to the tradition of the elders. (Titus 1 : 10) This tradition was not the true Old Testament practice, but the fables and errors of the uninspired Jewish teachers who made the law of God of no effect (Mark 7: 13) Because of tradition, the Jews kept the passover a day late, as they do to this day. (John 18:28) The Jews ALTERED the day on which Pentecost should fall, making it always the sixth day of the third month of the sacred calendar. Later they also altered Pentecost into two days. The Jewish Encyclopedia gives all the information on the beginnings of these “feasts of the Jews” as the apostle John spoke of them.

Since the Jews attempted to pervert the days of God by their traditions, WHAT ABOUT THE GENTILES? Did they adhere to the truth of the Bible, or did they corrupt the teachings of the apostles and change the day of Pente- cost, too?

Remember, the Gentile Christians in the original inspired church observed Pentecost as we have seen. Therefore, we will naturally expect some PROOF IN LATER HISTORY that the church either kept this day pure or changed it.

If the Gentiles NEVER kept this day, as you have so often heard from the pul- pits of the land, then we should NOT expect to find any record of Gentile churches observing a “Pentecost.” W h a t are the facts?

How Pentecost Was Changed The following extracts from histories

obtainable at most libraries PROVE

DID KEEP PENTECOST! These records speak of keeping Pentecost-a Pente- cost that was changed in the immediate years that followed the death of the last apostles. This Pentecost, so-called, had become corrupted with SUN WOR- SHIP. It always fell on Sunday, the same as the pagan Easter substituted for the passover. (For the truth about Easter, write for Mr. Armstrong’s free booklet “Easter Is Pagan.”)

Here is a plain statement of Hasting‘s Dictionary of the Bible, article ”Pente- cost”:

“In the Christian Church the importance of Pentecost was continued and its significance emphasized by the out- pouring of the Spirit on that day (Acts 2 ) . The day of the week on that occasion is TRADITIONALLY represented as Sunday . . . Wieseler (Chron. d. Aposl. Zeitalter, p. 20) plausibly sug- gests that the festival was fixed on Sun- day by the later Western Church to cor- respond with Easter.

“Among the early Jewish Christians observance of the Hebrew feasts continued, doubtless with fresh significance derived from the new revelation.”

Let’s notice these statcmcnts. Pente- cost was continued in the early true Christian Church. It is TRADITION, not Revelation, that places Pentecost on Sunday according to Wieseler. Later in this article we shall prove from the Bible that Pentecost can NEVER occur on Sun- day!

Now let us also take note of the Catholic Encyclopedia,

“Whitsunday, or Pentecost, a feast of the universal Church which commem- orates the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, f i f t y days after the Resurrection of Christ, on the ancient Jewish festival called the “feast of weeks” or Pentecost . . . Whitsunday, as a Christian feast, dates back to the first century, although there is no evi- dence that it was observed, as there is in the case of Easter; the passage in Z Co- rinthians (16:8) probably refers to the Jewish feust.”

Here is one of the plainest admissions that the Pentecost observed by Gentile converts, as the Bible records in I Corin- thians 16:8, was NOT THE SAME as the “Christian” feast which later developed in the universal church. It was the Bibli-

THAT THE EARLIEST GENTILE CHURCHES

c d Pentecost incorrectly namcd “Jew- ish” because most authors don’t know that Jewish tradition has altered and rejected the true Bible Pentecost.

Another fact we glean from this statement is that there is NO RECORD OUT- SIDE THE BIBLE that Gentiles continued to observe the true day. But the FACT that there are records of a false day corroborates the Bible by indicating that the Gentiles originally kept the true, but aftcr the death of the apostles, it was perverted. If no day had been observed originally, there would have been no Pentecost to alter.

Before we proceed further, we want to catch the erroneous statement that Pentecost occurred fifty days after the resurrection We shall later notice exactly how many days later Pentecost really did occur.

Early Confusion Among Catholics About Pentecost

As usual, with the introduction of error wholesale, there is always a period of adjustment until the error is finally established. W e notice just such a situ- ation in early Catholic records before their Pentecost or Whitsunday was firm- ly established. Bingham’s Antiquities of the Christian Church, page 1157, 1158, says :

“The iiex[ great festival was that of Pentecost, which is taken in a double sense among the ancients. For some- times it signifies the whole space of f i f t y days between Easter and Whitsun- tide . . . In the former acceptation Ter- tullian speaks of it, when he tells the Christians . . . That Pentecost was a large space of time APPOINTED BY THE CHURCH for administering of baptism . . . And hence it became a standing rule over the whole church to read the Acts in these fifty days cf Pentecost, as appears from many other places of Chrysostom, Austin, Cassian, and the fourth council of Toledo.”

In his On FaJting, Chapter XIV, Ter- tullian says this: “Our solemnities too will be bound to be new: else, if the apostle has erased all devotion absolutely . . . why do we celebrate the passover by an annual rotation in the first month? Why in the f i f t y ensuing days do we spend our time in all exultation?” (From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4, pp. 111-112.) Obviously, Tertullian recog- nized that the Apostle Paul did NOT abolish all these days.

At other times, Pentecost was used to mean the spec+ duy tllai eiidcd the season of fifty days, during which “the newly-baptized wore their white and shining garments”-hence, Whitsunday. At one time the confusion over the day of Pentecost led the Council of Elvira,


I s W a t e r Baptism Necessary? I

‘4re there couditinris thut w e must perform before cc2ti receizv the gift of eternal life.>

H A T shall 1 do ro have my sins forgiven aiid tn be ircon-

“ w ciled to God?” That question is being asked us by hundretis of people who never before have been mentally and spiritually at ease. Perhaps you al.ro have come to this place in life where you sincerely desire to be reconciled to God and to learn His way? Just HOW to be forever relieved of the crushing load of past mistakes in your life!

What you need to do is free your mind of prejudice and open yo!ir Bible.

The apostle Peter was nnce ;.sked: “What shall we do to be forgiven?” Where did he find the will of God? In the teachings of the sects of his day? Not at all. Peter went to the teaching of Jesus and that’s exactly what you will have to do.

Be not “unwise, but understand what the udl of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5 : 17 ) His wil/ is expressed in all the Bible. Christians are to “live by every word of God.” (Lukc 4 : 4 )

So you can know what you MUST do to be saved from sin and to inherit eternal life, let’s begin with the inspired words of Peter in Acts 2:38, 39. He was asked, “What shall we do:’” by honest, sincere people who were regretting their evil deeds and who wanted tn he rpcnn- ciled with God. “Then Peter said unto them, rt’pent AND BE BAPTIZED every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.“

Here’s the answer. The Bible makes baptism, together with repentance, one of the essentials to conversion and salvation. It is a commanded outward sym- bol of your inward faith and belief in Jesus Christ who reconciles you to the Father. Other texts say it is also necessary to “believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” who died in your stead for your sins. (Acts 8:37)

Method of Baptism Jesus Christ set us an example that

we should follow in His steps ( I Peter 2 : 2 1 ) . Although Jesus had never sinned, H e wa.r baptized by John in the river Jordan to set us an example. “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight- way out of the water.” (Matthew 3 : 16) Notice that Jesus went up out of the water. He had to be in the water to go up out of it. It is absurd tu think of a person coming up out of a sprinkle!

Common sense, a little studious ef-

By Burk McNair

fort, and HONESTY will show us that ‘baptize” doe5 not mean “sprinkle” or “pour.” J.ook up the word in any reli- able concordance that lists the Greek meanings. “Baptize” is a Greek word that literally means: to IMMERSE, to plunge into, to put into. It has no re- semblance to sprinkling or pouring whatsoever!

If you have been “sprinkled” or “pouied,” you have NOT been baptized.

These two false substitutes for baptism are both meaningless. The true meaning of baptism has been perverted and sub- stitute methods are being employed which do not in any way symbolize God’s purpose. Romans 6:3-8 shows us the symbolical meaning of true baptism -that we are “buried” with Christ by baptism. Sprinkling and pouring are false, counterfeit forms because they do not picture a burial.

The foregoing passage shows that we are to “bury’’ our old “self’ when we arc baptized. Our former selfwill is to be figuratively crucified with Christ (verse 6 ) , “that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

If you would like the entire subject of baptism completely explained, write for the free booklet “Water Baptism.”

Some may think they have been quite righteous through their own human power. But Romans 3 : 2 3 tells us, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” W e should realize that our human righteousness will never stand up under severe trial and test. W e must have the character of our Heavenly Father.

Repentance Before Baptism So as Peter said, baptism IS a pre-

requisite to salvation. But before you are to be baptized, you must repent. What is repentance?

It is wholehearted turning away from sin-forsaking what you naturally want to do, and to go, instead, in the direction in which God is going, which brings happiness. Most people refuse to repent until they have become sick of the way they have been living and thinking. In- stead of refusing to change your ways, do as Isaiah said: “Seek ye the Lord while be may be found, call ye upon him while be i s near: Let the wicked for- sake hiJ way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let them return unto the Lord . . . for he will abundantly

J

pardon.” (Isaiah 5 5 : 6,7 ) You are to repent of sin, so you must

first know what in is. In I John 3 : 4 we read that “SIN is the transgression of the law.” That’s what sin is! It is breaking God’s commandments, not men’.r cnm- mandments nor the teachings of church authorities.

To repent of sin, you must turn away from human traditions which violate God’s laws and which have so much weight of unhappiness upon yourself. Your conscience will probably not always agree with God about sin because your conscience hurts only when you have done what you think is wrong. Not by conscience, but ”by the law is the knowledge of sin.” (Rom. 3:20) The consciences of men differ and change with time and place according to the ideas of a society which is C U L uff from God. It is not the standards you have learned from society but the standards of God that you must follow.

Hreaking the Father’s laws has caused the very things that have brought you unhappiness and suficring to this very moment. That’s why Gad in His love wants you to quit travelling the road that in the end leads to sorrow and finally death. Perhaps for years you have un- knowirtgly been a slave LO sill. Bur now if you REPENT, and are BAPTIZED, you can receive the very nature and love of God by the Holy Spirit which will en- able you to live a happydnd more abun- dant life. Even though you may meet opposition and troubles outside, they are not to be compared tn rhe peace of God and inward freedom from sin that comes from repentance, belief, and baptism.

How to Become a Son of God You must be totally willing to sub-

mit to God’s perfect will as expressed in His laws-willing to serve Him as a loving Jon each time you come to understand His will. But you can’t be a son of the Heavenly Father unless you are led by the Spirit of God. (Romans 8:14) The Spirit will lead you according to the Bible, not contrary to it. It will open your mind so you can grasp the meaning of Scripture as never before. But you can’t receive the Spirit of God unless you are FIRST baptized. “Be baptized . . . and YOU shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2 : 38)

The Holy Spirit is a GIFT. You need Please continue on page 13

Here Are Facts about Our Radio Studio

By Norman A. Smith OU LISTEN to Mr. Armstrong’s voice. But how much d o you Y know about the actual means by

which i t reaches your ears? You probably never thought about

the mechanical operations involved. Your mind is on what he is saying. I would like to introduce you to the operation of a vital department here from which you have been benefiting. It transmits Mr. Armstrong’s voice to you.

This is not a technical explanation of how radio works. It is merely a little of the function o f our broadcast studio in bringing “The World Tomorrow’’ into your home.

As Mr. Armstrong explained in a re- cent prograin he first started broadcasting on a small station in Eugene. Ore- gon. Only a very small numbcr of people conld hear him. But today, by this miracle of radio, millions of y o u receive the true Message of God simultaneously.

-4 Modern W’onlfcr Tod;ly modern electronic equipment

amplifies, records, nnd re-creates his voice in its exact true sound, so the millions hear it at once. I t IS truly a modern wonder.

After a period of broadcasting only on th is small station in Eugene, Oregon, the very smallest network was arranged to broadcast the program over equally small stations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Then this network was extend- ed to include stations in Seattle and Spo- kane. From that very small 100-watt station, in Portland the program went on a 1,000 watt station, then later to Oregon’s most powerful station, 10,000 watts of power. Meanwhile the program went to one of the strongest stations in Seattle. In 1942 a Hollywood station was added, then after a year of broadcasting on WHO in Iowa, and two years on WOAI in Texas, both 50,000 watts, the great, giant 150,000-watt super-power Mexican stations were added. Today, ”The World Tomorrow” program is one of the most powerful and far-reaching radio programs on the air.

M a n y Unseen Hands To transmit Mr. Armstrong’s voice

with God’s Message to so many millions of you, in all parts of North America, is in itself a largc enterprise. While i t is only Mr. Armstrong’s voice you hear. many other men are having an unseen

and unheard part in bringing that precious Message to so many ears.

So I thought you would be interested in having me take you behind the scenes and show you what goes on that you never hear or see.

First, I might explain that in a sense you never hear the actual voice of a speaker or singer over the radio-although in another sense you do. The speaker is talking in front of a microphone, which is super-sensitive to the vibrations of sound. From the microphone in the studio these vibrations which we call the voice are .transmitted instantaneously over wires into the con- trol-room panel in the adjoining room, separated from the studio by double- glass windows. The voice is amplified ( made louder) and transmitted through and from this electronic equipment in one of two ways-either direct to radio stat ions over special broadcast lines and out over the airways or into electrical transcriptions and xxind tape where i t is recorded.

Two Ways of Transmission I said that in a sense you never hear

the actual voice of the speaker. W h a t you hear, technically, is the vibration which was caused by the human voice before the microphone as this vibration comes out of the loudspeaker on your radio set. This vibration takes on other forms than that of an audible voice before it reaches you, forms that you can’t see or hear. The voice may have been recorded and broadcast a week 01 so after the words were actually spoken, but it makes no difference. T h e same voice is reproduced by your radio whether it comes “live” or “transcribed.” T h e marvelous methods of recording sound so that it can be sent to powerful stations and beamed all over the North American continent is why you people are now permitted to read “The Good News” and to hear “The World Tomor- row” program.

We use two methods of recording, electrical transcriptions and tape recording. Electrical transcriptions are recordings made o n a large acetate disc. Jr looks like an oversize phonograph record. As the disc turns, a cutting needle, vibrating with the sound picked u p by the microphone, cuts away a thin strip of the acetate leaving a groove in which the playback needle can follow. W h e n

the transcription is replayed for broadcasting the playback needle follows the groove and rccrcatcs the sound, bringing Mr. Armstrong’s voice with those dynamic Messages of ’Truth to you exactly as it sounds in the studio. From ;1

recording, an almost worthless piece of matter put together and formed by men, you are able to hear those priceless words. Wil l you let them guide you and show you the way to giving yourself to God, to be used of him?

The newest and best means of sound recording is that of rape. Small, niicio- scopic, metallic particles are affixed on a plastic tape with an adhesive binder. As the tape passes over the recording head of the tape machines these metallic particles are magnetized in accordance with the vibrations picked up by the microphone. This method ic cnn- sidered superior to that of electrical transcriptions. There is no needle scratch and the recording on the cape can be erased or dcmagneciLed, peiiniiiiiig it to be used over and over again.

O u r O w n Studio At first Mr. Armstrong went to a com-

mercial recording studio to have recordings of the broadcast made. Due to the expensive electronic equipmenr and the technical skill required, this was becoming a most expensive process.

As a result of the careful planning and God-inspired vision that has hclped this work to advance as it has, a modern radio studio was designed and constructed in the Classroom building of Am- bassador College. The finest professional microphones, program monitoring equipment and recording lathes were installed. Dick Armstrong, who had studied sound recording, was given the position of Ra- dio operator and technician. Dick was able to produce a better quality recording at a fraction of the former cost. The money saved in this manner, as well as that of office rent, is more than the pay- ments on these beautiful properties where the Radio Studio is located. We are actually being paid to occupy them.

Today we use all three methods of bringing God’s Word to your ears. The program is aired “live” daily, by direct wire to the radio station.

Many of you are hearing Mr. Arm- strong’s voice at the precise instant he is speaking in our studio. But to con-


What Is the Place Jesus Is Preparin

Here is a thorough, God-inspired explanatiort of a greatly misunderstood text. Did Jesus say Christians go to heat,len?

By Herman L. Hoeh

M ANY pwple today believe Jesus told His disciples that Chris- tians will spend eternity in

mansions in heaven. They quote His words in John 14:1-4.

Did Jesus really say that our reward is a mansion in heaven? Let’s see.

Wha t Is the Father’s House? I n His Father’s !iniiw, Jesus said ptain-

ly, thcre were many “mansions.” If i t had not been true, He said, He would have told us. The Greek word translated “mansion” 1iic;111> i 1 1 iiwre modern English, rooni. a $lace of .Ttaying, an abode, a chamher. So in the Father’s house there were a number of rooms or chamberJ.

But what is the Father’s house? What docs the Bible declare the Father’s house to be?

When in the templc, Jcsus h i d to h e Jews who were selling doves and cattle therein: “Make not my FATHER’S HOUSE an house of merchandise.” (John 2: 16) Here is the simple Bible definition of the Father’s house. It was the temple which stood in Jesus’ day at Jerusalem. Luke 19:46 and Isaiah 56:7 mention the same thing.

But did the temple have many “mansions” or rooms and chambers in it?

Certainly. In turning to Jeremiah 35:2, we read this: “Speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers.’’ In the fourth verse of the same chapter, we notice that different chambers were for persons of different rank. Hanan, a man of God, had his chamber or room “by the chamber of the princes . , . which was above the chamber of . . . the keeper of the door.” So the various chambers or ”mansions” corresponded to the ranks of the persons residing in them. Each room of the temple, the Fa- ther’s house, not only designated the reszdence of each official, but also indi- cated his position or ofice, whether he was a doorkeeper or prince.

Even the Bible commentator, Adam Clark, notes in his commentary: “Our Lord alludes here to the temple, which was called the hoase of God, in the pre- cincts of which there were a great number of chambers.“ See also I Kings 6:5;

Ezra 8:29 and Jeremiah 36:lO. N o where does the Bible call heaven

the Father’s house. Heaven is never said to have “mansions.” The ancient taber- nacle had two compartments, the inner, called the Holy of Holies, being an exact picture of the throne of God-f heaven, itself. I t had no manrionJ. Read Hebrews 8:5 and 9:l-7 to see exactly what the pattern uf heaven is like.

No, Jesus was not referring to heaven, but to the temple, long since destroyed, which was called the house of God. The temple was a type of the House of Isra- el, of the Kingdom of Israel under the Old Covenant. It is also a physical type of the rfihiturnl temple, the family or Kingdom of God. (Heb. 3:6; I Peter 2 : 5 )

What IF the Place Prepared?

Now we should consider the remain- der of Jesus’ conversation with the disciples. He said: “I go to prepare a place for you.” W e learn from other scriptures that Jesus did go to heaven, to the right hand of the Father, where He now acts as our High Priest. (Heb. 9.11)

While functioning in this office for us, Jesus is obviously preparing a place for each of us as He promised the disciples. Now notice this carefully: the preparation of each place is occurring in .heaven, but Jesus did not say that the places were a part of heaven. A wife may prepare her meals in the kitchen, but the meals are not a part of the kitchen.

Since heaven, the place of Gods throne, does not have abodes or mansions, just what are the “places” that are being prepared? Does the Bible give any texts telling us what is being prepared?

There are only two texts in the Bible which tell us what is being preparcd. The first is in Matthew 25:34. Here Christ said: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom, prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” The other text is in Revelation 21:2: “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

The Bible says the only places that are prepared are the Kingdom of God and the new Jerusalem. Since it i s the kingdom and the holy city that are finally prepared for us all, then what Jesus is preparing for each of us must be our own position in the kingdom and the new Jerusalmn.

Now it’s plain why Christ alluded to the temple as an example of the King- dom of God and of the new Jerusalem. The temple had rooms which served as nfices for the various residents holding different ranks. In the same way, each of us will have our own personal place in the holy city, in accordance with how well we use the talents God has given us in this life. The more we overcome in this life, the more honorable will be our place in the new Terusalem and the greiter will be our of-fice o f responsibility in the kingdom.

Revelation 2 1 : 2 plainly proves that the holy city is one of the two tliiiigs that Jesus is preparing now in heaven. It is prepared by God. Both God the Fa- ther and His Son have been fashioning it, since what ever the Father does, the Son does likewise. (John 5 : 19) Since the city comes down out of heaven fully prepared, then it must have been prepared in heaven, just as Jesus said.He would do. Notice, too, :hat the city comes out of heaven. I t does not say that we go t o heaven.

Now let’s understand what the Bible says about the kingdom which is in preparation in heaven, and which will come to earth. Jesus returned to heaven to receive the kingdom. (Luke 19:12) He must be preparing it while acting in the office of High Priest. Since the kingdom is prepared for all of us to inherit, then the particular place Christ is preparing for each of us must be our own positioii or office in that kingdom. Place means position, of ice , rank, as well as geographical location. Our place or position in the government of God will de- pend on the office we hold. Christ has first place, as He is king of kings. W e shall all have secondary places, lesser positions under Him.

The kingdom of God is the govern- Please continue o n page 16

0 The GOOD NEWS Mav, 1952

&uestaon Box Your questions answered in these columns! Your opportuvtty to hut^

those puzzling queries, needing only a short reply, solved. I f y o u n are not here, then write them to 14~. As space permits they will be printed tf nn

answer i s possible. Of course, questions demanding lengthy replies carlnor

be placed in these columns. Edited by the Students.

Are Those Saints Who Arose About the T i m e of Christ’s Resurrection

Still Alive?

It is a common conception, often taken for granted, that the saints who arose shortly after Christ are still alive. But what does the Bible say?

First of all, let us get the picture clearly in mind. This incident is recorded in Matt. 27:52,53 which reads as follows: “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”

These were not the first nor the only pcoplc LO be restored to life from the dead. In I1 Kings, the fourth chapter, we read the story of Elisha and the Shunamnite‘s SOP, whoin h e raised to life through the power of God. This young man was resurrected many hundreds of years before Christ and yet Paill says in I Corinthians 15:22,23 that Christ is the firstfruits or the first to be made immortal as the Son of God ( Romans 1 : 4 ) , and that there is a definite order, Christ first, then afterward -not those saints-but they that are Christ’s a t His coming. N o w God is not the author of confusion. H e would not set a definite order of resurrections and then violate that order.

And yet, what about the Shunamnite’s son, and what about Lazarus (John 11: 5 ) , and the widow’s son mentioned in Luke 7:14,15? These were all raised before Christ’s resurrection. W h a t happened to them?

If we cast out preconceived ideas, and merely take the Bible as it is, the answer is very clear. They were not made immortal because Paul states in I Timothy 6: 16 that Christ alone, of all men who have ever lived, has immortality. I Cor. 15:22-21 says furthermore: “For in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in h,is orrn order: Christ the firsrfruits; the?, r h c y that arc Christ’s AT 111s COMING.”

NO ONE BUT CHRIST HAS BEEN RESURRECTED TO IMMORTALITY TO THIS DAY-but those in Christ will be raised NEXI‘ at His second coming: Je- sus said that as the Father raised the dead and made d i v e (quickened) whom He

would, so also would the Son do l ike - wise. (John 5 : 21 ) . The answer is sirn- ply that these people, from the Shunam- nite’s son down to those raised at the time of Christ’s resurrection were made physically alive, undoubtedly healed of the afflictions that might have caused their deaths prematurely, then they lived out their lives-human flesh and blood livcs. Sincc they were only mortal, and now alive, they must have died.

THUS we conclude that those people merely lived out a natural human life which had been cut short, then died and are even now awaiting the resurrection.

When Should Christians Begin Saving a Third T i t h e ?

In [he December Issue of “The Good News” an article appeared explaining to many of you the three different tithes mentioned in the Bible. The first tithe, of course, is God’s and He directs that it be used for the work of the ministry in spreading the gospel. The second tithe, as that article thoroughly explained (Deut. 14:21-27;16:9-15) is fw yozh so that you can keep the annual festivals which God has commanded His people to observe.

But the third tithe is for anyone who is poor and in need. In ancient times, when God’s people were an organized nation, the tithe was laid aside within the gates of each city so that the min- isters, the strangers, the fatherless and the widows would be adequately provided for (Deut. 14:28,29) . Of course. the poor people who needed it were not commanded to lay aside a third tithe, although they could do so if they wished.

In the New Testament Church. lay- ing aside help for the needy was also practiced. Paul instructed the churches to take u p a collection of fruit so that on the first day of the week when he would arrive everything would be in readiness to rake the liberality of the Gentiles to Jerusalem. See Romans IS: 25-28 with I Corinthians 16.1-4.

T h e third tithe is to be saved every third year-the year of tithing for the poor (Deut. 2 6 : 1 2 ) . Since God’s people are to work their land for six years and let i t lie idle or rest the seventh

year ( l x v . 2 5 : 4-7 ), i t becomes obvious that the years for saving the third tithe are the third and sixth out of ez’ery Jer,. en. Otherwise ; I conflict would occur when the year of tithing would be a sabbatical year. Thus the third tithe should be saved the third and the sixth year oiit of every seven; thnt is, the third and sixcii, the tenth and thirteenrh, the seventeenth and twentieth and so on.

To m:ike everything as practical n s possible for everyone, God made this help f o r the poor a tenth or tithe every third year. However, according to the spirit of the law, if you are in such cir- cuinstances, that you need to support continually needy members of your family, the church or strangers. it might he more convenient to lay aside about three and one-third percent six out of seven years.

fL,ncient Israel did not give this rithe r o foreign nations although it was given to strangers dwelling within the nation. In the same way, we should save it especially for the church, for poor meni- bers of our family ( I Tim. 5 : 16) and for the unconverted whom we see have need. It should not be spent prorniscu- ciusly on worldly charities.

Many o f you readers have written us reqiicstiiig IO i n o w whcn to start sa\= ing ttiis tithc. Sincc ancient lsrael was to rcckon the pears from the time they entered the land (Lev. 2 5 : 2 ) , and as we have found NO KNOWN AND PROVABLE WAY to determine exactly how many years have elapsed since that event, w e ought f o veckon our third year f r o m the t ime ZPL‘ were converted. This is very wise, because now, when the church is not an organized nation, we need to have various individuals saving a rhird tithe in diffcrcnt years to take care of all the needs of newly converted individuals. Although God does not require to make u p for those past years wherein we failed to save a third tithe since conversion, we should repent for having failed to do so.

What Is the Millennium? Continued from page 2

rhe King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of Tabernacles.” (Zech. 14: 16)

The people that shall be left are going to worship the Lord year by year in Jerusalem, which is on this earth, not in heaven. T h e Lord shall be king over a11 the emth. (Zech. 14:9 j The next verses show Him punishing nations for diso- bedience. W e are also going to judge and correct the nations as we sit with Jesus (111 His throne.

N o n c of these events can occur be-

May, 1952 The GOOD NEWS Page 1 1

fore the thousand years, and none can occur in heaven because there are no disobedient nations there. Neither will disobedient nations be in the New Earth after rhe millennium. Therefore these events must happen DURING T H E MILLENNIUM AND ON THIS EARTH. These are the plain statements of Scrip- ture.

T h e Ear th Is Not to Be Desoiate In the book of Isaiah, chapter 24,

there are verses which some seize upon in a feeble effort to contradict the plain statements of Scripture. These verses are deliberately misquoted to deceive you. T h e time setting of this chapter is in the beginning of the millennia1 period. The first verse is often quoted as: “Behold, the Lord maketh thc earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down . . .”

Just quoting this much, one is left with the impression that there are no inhabitants on the earth, that the millennium will be a period of complete desolation. But why not quote the whole verse? Whar does God mean by the earth being made empty? Did He mean that there are no inhabitants? NOT AT ALL! Let’s not stop reading, as soiiie denominations do, but continue reading this entire chapter.

W h a t will God do? H e “scattereth abroad the tnhabttants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with the master . . . T h e land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled . . . The haughty people of the earth d o languish . . . T h e y that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitunLs u / the earth are burned, and FEW MEN LEFT.”

Read this entire twenty-fourth chapter of Isaiah. It shows the punishments on this earth at the beginning of the thousand years, the complere destruction of civilization and “few men left.”

W e just read what Zechariah said about those who shall be left. They shall go u p to Jerusalem from year to year and worship the Eterna! who shall be King over all the earth. Isaiah says that those few who are left “shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majes- ty of the Lord (verse 1 4 ) . . . when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem.” (verse 23 ) Yes, Christ will reign in Jerusalem, not heaven, and there will he inhabitants who shall REPOPULATE the earth.

Again Jeremiah 4:21-31 is often lift- ed out of its context to apply to the WIIOLE carth during the tliuusarid years as a period of desolation. By studying the book of Jeremiah from the beginning we can learn that this is NOT referring to the thousand years. T h e prophet warns Judah that Nebuchadnez-

zar of Babylon is coming “to make THY LAND DESOLATE; and THY CITIES shall be laid waste without an inhabitant.” (Verse 7 ) This is speaking of Judah, not the whoir earth, but the “WHOLE LAND SHALL BE DESOLATE; YET WILL I NOT MAKE A FULL END.” (Verse 27)

The same word in the original He- brew is often used to mean either “earth” or “land” and actually should be translated “land” i n verse twenty-three, because God is .speaking of the land of Judah. It shows, too, that there are Gen- tiles still on the earth who will not be allowed by God to make a full end of Judah, even though they desolatc the land completely. Verse twenty-nine shows that not a man shall dwell in the cities. Why? Because there are no human beings o n the earth? No! But because the whole city shall flee before the horsemen of the Gentiles.

Together with these two misquoted texts, certain people who wrongly believe that the earth will be desolate during the millennium turn to I1 Thess. 1:8 and 2:8. T h e first of these verses is speaking of angels who will take ven- geance o n those that know not God and obey not the gospel. It is assunzed that this text says that all people will be destroyed, but it doesn’t say that. It is only those who refuse to &ey chat will perish. But there will be many orhrr Gen- tiles who shall repent of their wrong ways and admit that their “fathers have inherited lies.” (Jer. 16: 19)

T h e other verse oftcn mentioned (I1 Thess. 2:8) nowhere speaks of ALL THE WICKED. It mentions “THAT WICKED” whom Christ shall destroy, “even HIM, whose coming is after the working of Satan.” (Verse 9 ) So i t is not all the wicked, but one person, even h i m , that is to be destroyed. This Wick- ed is that false prophet whose destruction is described in Revelation 19:20.

N o n e of the preceding texts describe nn earth without inhabitants for a thousand years. But some people just don’t want to believe the plain statements in God’s word!

WHAT W i l l the Mil lennium Be Like? W e remember reading that when Je-

sus returns He shall rule over the House of Jacob forever. In Micah, the fourth chapter, a graphic description is given us concerning the world at that time. Verse one shows God’s rulership esrab- lished over the nations. Then what happens! “And many nations shall come. and say, Come, and let us go u p to the mountain (government j of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall

judge among many people, and Yebivke strong nation) afar o f f : and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up ii bwurd against nation. neither shall they learn war any more.”

Could this be in heaven? Wil l God rebuke strong narions in heaven? Could this be in the New Earth? Wil l God have to rebuke nations at that rime? Of course not! This is referring to the millennium when the nations will learn peace for the first rime in the history of the world.

Isaiah 11 tells us of the same time. The Gentiles are going to seek God (verse 10) and Israel and Judah are going to be gathered THE SECOND TIME from the heathen nations (versc‘ I1 ) . This could nor be speaking of an); “spiriwal Israel” because the last verses in this chapter speak of inen crossing rivers a n d highways as they lenvc t i l e

Gentile nations :ind retiirn the second time to the land o f proinizr.

This is the time spoken of by Paul. “Blincl~ir~s in part is happened to lsrael. until the fulness of the Gentiles bc come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written. There shall conie out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn ungodliness from Jacob: for this is 111)

covenant iinto t h m . when I shal! ( t ~ k c away their sins.” (Roinnns 11:25-27) Here is good news! P e r e is part of the gospel message. Blindness is happened to Israel, not foreaer. but until the ful- ncss of rhe Gentiles comes in. l’hen Is- rael shall be forgiven and the Gentilcs shall seek God.

Returning to Isaiah 11, verse 4, we read that Christ “shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” At this very time lohen Hc is punishing the wicked and “reproving with equity the meek of the earth”-at this very time, notice it-”the wolf also shall dwell wirh the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down wirh the kid . . . and a little child shall lead them. And the lion shall eat s t n w like the ox. And the suching child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the .iivuaed child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all niy holy mourtain: for the earth shall be ful l of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” ( Isaiah 11 :6 -9 )

This can’t be i n heaven, because tlierc are no wicked human beings in heavcn punished ;it the same time that little children are being sucked and wrxned. AND THIS CAN’T BE IN THE NF.\X EARTH BECAUSE THERE WILL BE NO WICKED PERSONS T H E R E (Rev. 2 1 : 1 -,4 ) . Therefore i t must be on thii edt-th J u i - ing the millennium. It can’t happen in heaven, nor in the new earth, nor bcforc


rhc inillcnnium begins. No wild, car- nivorous animals are going to be tamed before that time to eat straw like the ox.

The thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah con- tains other descriptions of the reign of Christ and His saints for the thousand years. In the preceding chapter the destruction of this present world’s civilization is depicted as a bloody catastrophe, but thanks to God, the world won’t long be in the throes of destruction. For the wildcrncss shall blossom as the rose, the blind will see and the lame shall walk. because Christ is going to heal the af- flicted just as He did in His ministry nineteen hundreds years ago.

This is what the millennium will be like. And each of us has our part in making the glorious age to come possible. If we continue to grow spiritually, to overcome the wrong tendencies of our human nature, to acquire the character of God, then wc shall reign with Christ on His throne.

Satan Is to Be Bound Having seen that the Bible teaches the

millennium to be the reign of the King- dom of God ON THIS EARTH-the millennium is not the Kingdom, it is merely the first thousand years reign of that kingdom o n this earth-we should not forget what we !earned about Satan being bound. Some people arc trying to tell you that during the millennium Satan will he bound by circumstances because there will be no human beings alive f o r him to tempt. But the Bible plainly shows Satan being taken from the people and bound LEST he should deceive the nations. If there were no nations to deceive, he would not have t o be MOUND AND SHUT UP I N A PLACE

W h e n Satan and his demons are re- strained from their work of deception, the earth shall at last have its millennia1 sabbath of rest. T h e resurrected saints will judge the world with Christ and all nations shall have peace at last, because they will for the first time be following that “law which shall go forth out of Zion.”

W i l l t h e D e a d Be Resurrected D u r i n g the Mil lennium?

Some groups know that the millennium will occur on this earth. But they teach that there will be resurrections during the entire period. Is this true?

They claim that Revelation 20:5 is not a part of the Bible. This verse says: “BUT THE REST OF THE DEAD LIVED NOT AGAIN UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE FINISHED.” T h e “authority” which they use to prove ( ? ) that this does not belong to the Bible is the fact t ha t the Vatican manuscript does not contain it. Their rrs.runzption is that, because it i.r ii?

OF RESTRAINT. (Rev. 20: 1-3 )

many othcrs, it must have been surrep- titiously added by deceitful men. The facts, however, are that it wa.r lef t out of the Vatican manuscript, probably by a copyist’s oversight. ?’he greatest scholars admit that this text belongs in the Bible.

True enough, it is a parenthetical phrase which breaks the continuity of verses four to six. But God inspired John to put this parenthetical thought here so that we would know that the rest of the dead do not have part i n thc first resurrection. It is after the millennium (Rev. 20: l l -15) that the rest of the dead are raised. If they were raised from their graves during the millennium, there would be no need of a time of resurrection after the thousand years.

It is important that we do not believe this error by removing this verse. Jesus said: “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life.” (Rev. 22: 19) It is also absolutely essential that we do not follow the heresy that denies the rule of the Kingdom of God ON THIS EARTH during the millennium. If any man preaches a gospel that denies this, he shall be cur.red of God.

Lest any of you be deceived by the many errors about the millennium, God has given you a!! the scriptures mentioned in this article AND MANY MORE which you ought to study. Remember, now you know what the Word of God teaches. You don’t dare reject the truth now that the knowledge of the truth has come or you will perish in the lake of, fire. It is u p to you. Are you willing to believe what God says, or do you want to follow error?

Facts about Radio Studio

Continued from page 8 form to different broadcasting schedules, it is necessary that the program be put on the air at a slightly delayed and more convenient time over some of the stations.

Now right here it becomes necessary to explain a vital part of this entire operation. T h e many of you who have visited the college and silt in the studio during an actual broadcast know that Mr. Armstrong pours every ounce of his strength and power and earnestness into every broadcast. He probably burns as many calories of energy in one half hour of this dynamic speaking than a farmer pitching hay or picking cotton in the hot sun would expend in several hours’ labor. H e is dripping with perspi- ration when the broadcast is over. H e has becn keeping at this broadcasting more than eighteen years. Few people have any conception of the tremendous effort

put into this program. MI. Arinsiruiig knows this is the most important work on earth. Millions are tuned in. Thou- sands of precious souls are at stake. One single broadcast iniglit be tlie very turning point-the difference between eternal life and death-for many precious sods. The weight of rhis responsibility is tremendous, and Mr. Armstrong feels i r deeply. The strain is terrific. It would be an absolute physical impossibility for a man to prepare and broadcast two or three or more different programs of this sort every day, seven days a week.

It is for this reason that the same program must be broadcast over all stations. But since station programming makes it necessary for the program to be aired at different times of day over different stations. it is necessary that the program be recorded for bro, ‘1 d . cast at a later I-lour o n some of these stations.

Consequently, as Mr. Armstrong is broadcasting the daily program by direct wire from our own studio, a number of recordings are being made in our con- trol room. These are then packaged and shipped by air-express to the other stations. Due to technical operations of different stations, and occasional delays in getting the programs across the bor- der ro the giant Mexican stations, you who ;ITC :iblc I ; ) tunc in die program on two or more stations may hear a certain program on one station one night, and the same identical program on a different station the following n i g h t - o r , on occasion, even the following week.

Some have supposed it was a repeat broadcast when in actuality i t wasn’t. It is necessary for us to send the same programs to all stations because there are many areas reached by only one of them and Mr. Armstrong does not have time enough or strength to prepare and make different broadcasts for each station each day.

The broadcast will be of even more interest and vital importance to you this summer. Dick Armstrong and Herman Hoeh will take professional tape recording equipment with them to Europe. You will hear them, as they talk to you from Europe with their own reports and commentaries on conditions there, by tape recordings. Y o u will be permitted to hear these God-called men, who understand today’s happenings in the light of Bible prophecy, on “The World To- morrow” program.

W h e n Christ was here he spoke to comparatively few, just those who could gather around close enough to hear him. Today, when this same Gospel which He preached must go into all the world as a witness, H e has provided a way for it to be carried. He is putting the radio to a good use, as with everything which H e gives u s .

Do Worms Never Die in Hell?

By Rod Meredith

STARTLING statement is fourd in Mark 9:48. In this passage of A Scripture, Christ spoke of a

worm that “dieth not.” Who ever heard of the immortality of worms? W h a t did Christ mean?

Some PEOPLE think that Jesus was referring to people as worms and was trying to say that these “people” never died -but lived on in agonizing torment. Those who say this fail to notice that Jesus does not call the wicked people “worms” but instead speaks of THEIR worm. ’I‘he Lexicons define the Hebrew (Isa. 66:24) and Greek (Mark 3 : 4 8 ) words translated “worm” as a grub or maggot and in no zuay refers to a man. Christ was not reaching the immortality of people or worms!

W h a t “Hel l Fire” Is Actually, Jesus was here warning his

listeners that those who would “offend” -who would livc a life of rebellion against God and His children-would be cast into “hell fire.” Most Bibles show in the marginal rendering that this was “Gehenna fire.“ Jesus was referring to Gehenna as a type of the second death in the “lake of fire’’ which will befall the ungodly.

Gehenna, or the Valley of Hinnom, was located outside of Jerusalem and was a place where trash, filth, and the dead bodies of anirnals and despised criminals were thrown. There were ledges along the cdge of this valley on which these dead bodies might land instead of falling down into the fires be- neath whcre cveryrhing was burned.

Smith‘r Bible Dictionary gives a description of this valley-which was something like one of our city dumps today where trmh and rubbish is biirncd u p .

If anything, especially a dead body. landed o n a ledge above the fires, it would be devoured by many worms or maggots which were kept alive by the animal and vegetable substances de- posited there.

It was to these worms that Christ was referring when H e said “their worm dieth not.” But Christ didn’t mean that each individual worm continued to live forever!

Actually, these worms, or maggots are the larvae which develop from eggs de- posited by flies. They continue for only a feu) dayr in this larvae form. then pu- pate and finally emerge as flies, later dying. Thcsc are scientific facts, known by any real student of science. And yet some people think that Christ ignorant- l y stated that these larvae continued to live foreuer in that stage of develop- ment! This just goes to show that ,we should always be careful to use wisdom and common sense in studying God’s word. T h e Holy Spirit is the spirit of a J o m d mind (I1 Tim. 1 : 7 ) . Let’s rightly use the minds God gave us!

The Greek word which was inspired and translated into the word “worm” in this passage simply means a grub or maggot, and is a collective expression for all the worms that devour dead matter. Yes, the flies that these worms become, like all other animals will return to the dust from which they came. “All are of the dust, and all turn to dust

again.” (licc. j: 19-20), WHY the W o r m s D i e Not

This sxnc retcrcnce to worms is found in Isaiah 6 6 : 2 4 Here we ;gain !ind that rhc inspired word simply means a common grub or a maggot. These worms o r larvae also feed on the dead bodies for a few days, and then emergc as tiies. Thus, these worms “die not” but continue to develop into flies just as any normal, healrhy worm! The flies continue to deposit their eggs olalj a.r long a.1 there are dead bodies o r other matter for the larvae to feed on.

Neither d o these worms have imnioc- tal souls! Ecc. 3:19 shows chat no cwu- twre. man o r beast, is born a , i c l i ;in ini- mortal soul.

The Bible is m e book that makes good sense! S o let LIS alway:, study these perplexing scriptures through. before we jump t o conclusions. ‘Then let us live by God’s word. so that wc may br wnrrhy of the gift of eternal life. Then we need not receive the wages of sin-death-- (Rom. 6:23). This will come by a fire which will not be qiietichcd-but will burn itself orit by consuming this earth and the bodies of all the wicked. Nci- ther will we need to worry about these “worms” which will livc on the bodies of transgressors-not at first consumed by fire-until there are no more bodies left. Then all will return to the dust and ashes ( Mal. 4 : 1 ) .

But i f we will honestly search the scriptures and live by them, we will be accounted worthy to inherit eternal lifc in the new earth which is c o come.

Is Baptism Necessary? Continued f r o m page 7

i t to gain immortal life. The only prom.& that you will receive it is on condition that you are first baptized. The Holy Spirit is the impregnation of eternal life, thc character, the nature, the i n i d of God MOVING AND ACTING WITHIN YOU. (I1 Peter 2 : 4 ) Without it, you cannot please God because you still have a natural, carnal mind. Without it you will die in your sins and perish FOREVER. ( Romans 8: 6-9 )

The Holy Spirit is not something that will give you bodily sensations. It is described in I1 Timothy 1:7 as the

Spirit “of power, and of h u e , and of a SOUND MIND.”

W h e n we receive the Holy Spirit, we are begotten as a child of God. That is why we receive the mind and love of God within us. We then inherit our Father’s nature just as a little baby in- herits the nature of its human father. As we read in I1 Peter 1:4, we are ro “be partakers of the DIVINE NATURE.”

So we see that baptism is necessary before w e can even become a begotten child of God. Then you still have to grow in grace and knowledge and love and understanding.

Baptism is commanded by Christ for all people. H e commanded his disciples, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,

baptizing them in the name (If the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you .” (Matthew 28:19)

So to any of you who sincerely want to be a Christian, baptism is comniandecl. You can’t be a Christian if you refuse to be baptized. If you don’t care enough about becoming a child and heir of the C r e a m to humble yourself and be bap- ti7ed as He has commanded, then y o u r very actions prove that you ilrr unworthy of the gift of eternal life.

Real salvation is not something you “get” or “take.” It is received on(, by first GIVING your self to God! YOU I ~ U S

“crucify the old man” and begin to “l ive

4 The GOOD NEWS May, 1952

by every word of God.“ Christ came that we might have life,

and that we might have it more aban- duntly. Baptism should be the beginning of that new spiritual life which will prepare you after a lifetime of overcoming yourself and the world, to be born as a son of God.

Remember, write immediately for Mr. Armstrong’s booklet on “Water Bap- tism.” It will explain fully many of the qiiestions not incliided in this article.

If you wish to be baptized, as God commands, send us your name to be put on the baptismal list. W e hope two baptizing teams can be sent over all the United States this summer. We will reach as many of you as we possibly can.

Don’t “put off” baptism! You can’t make yourself perfect by your own power. God must begin that process by putting His Holy Spirit within you to en- lighten your mind and to give you the y k r to develop the character of God within you.

We are looking forward to meeting rllnse of you whom God has called to become His sons and to rule in His Iiingdoin. It hiis ;tl\vays been a joy and privilege to meet tjiuse who really want t o follow Christ and obey God’s word. Let us hear from you.

~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~

Truth about Pentecost Continued f rom page 6

Spain, in 305 A.D., to condemn the ten- dency to celebrate i t f o r t y days after Easter.

The reason for the preservation of passover and Pentecost to a great extent in the apostatizing church was the meaning these two annual holy days originally possessed. One pictured the death of Christ, the other the coming of the Spirit of God to ripen the FIRST HARVEST of human beings.

The fact that the Jcws nationally speaking rejected Christ, our passover, and spurned the Holy Spirit, made the false universal church cling to rhe nam” of the festivals commemorating these two portions in God’s great plan.

Since, however, the apostates of the universal church were almost wholly Gentiles, these men gradually developed their own customs to di.rtinguish themselves from the Jews, and yet to retain the Christian or Jewish names. Both the Passover and Pentecost were TRANS- FERRED GRADUALLY TO SUNDAY. And the name Passover was at last dropped for Easter. Even Pentecost has been greatly obscured by the name Whitsun- day. And along with the perversion of these two days, the apostate church

OF THE TRLJE PLAN OF GOD which these days picture.

LOST ALL REMAINING KNOWLEDGE

The Reformation failed to restore the Holy Days of God. All the multiplicity of churches today either follow the pagan custom of observing Pentecost on Sunday or else NEGLECT the day al- together. The time has come for us to get back to the faith ONCE DELIVERED to the saints. Let’s begin to keep holy, the days God made holy. It is time we quit this Babylon of religious confusion and human tradition and follow the paths of the saints through all ages who have remained faithful to the truth of God.

Wha t Pentecost Means in the Plan of God

To keep us in mind that this present age is only the preliminary or first harvest of human beings, God took the yearly material harvest of Palestine as the picture of the spiritual harvest. As you probably have already learned, there are two harvest seasons in the Promised Land. The first small harvest is pro- duced by an early rain, the second great harvest by a later rain.

Pentecost was ordained forever at the end of the spring harvest season, so that we might remember year by year and never forge:, that this present church age is not the great day of Salvation for all the world, but the day of salvation for only the f e w who are called out of this present evii civiiiiation and given the Spirit of God. In I Corinthians 1 : 26 we find that “not many” of the great in this world are called. Everywhere, the Christians are spoken of as called ou; from the world. Not all the world is being called today. It is the “elect” or chosen who are called in Israel today; the rest are blinded so that God could IN THE FUTURE have mercy upon ALL. (Romans 11:7,32)

The “harvesting” of human beings who are called in this church age to be heirs of the Kingdom of God is explained in Leviticus 23 beginning verse 9. Here the material harvest of grain was originally used as a type of the spiritual harvest.

?’he Israelites were not permitted to harvest their grain until the day the wave, sheaf was offered. (Lev. 23: 10 , l l ; Deut. 16:7) This ritual, given to the Levkical priesthood to perform and therefore not practiced today, pictured the resurrected Christ being accepred by the Father as the very first human being to be born of God.

But notice this, the wave sheaf was merely the first part of the first harvest. It was a sheaf of the f i r~t fruits of the harvest. (Verse 10) Thus Christ is the “firstfruits of them that slept.” ( I Cor. 15:20) And Christians who are called in this age are also said to be the firstfruits. (James 1 : lS ; Romans 8:23)

Christ is the first of the firstfruits of God’s harvest of human beings. Pente- cost pictures, then, the coming of the Holy Spirit and the ripening of the rest of the firstfruits for harvesting at the resurrection ( I Cor. 15:23). This church age is merely the first harvest.

The great final “fall” harvest after Christ returns will be explained in future articles. Also’ write for our free bookler “Predestination” which will explain when the great day of salvation will really come for all mankind.

Was the New Testament Church FoundedonSunday?

Is the Catholic Church correct in es- tablishing the day of Pentecost on Sun- day? Or are the Jews right in permit- ting Pentecost to fall on almost any day of the week, but always on a fixed day of the month?

The truth is that neither is right! Pentecost can never fall on a Sunday, and neither does Pentecost occur on a specific day of the month. Therefore the New Testament Church was not founded on Sunday and Pentecost did not occur fifty days after the resurrection. Let’s prove these facts.

First, the day of Pentecost is the ONLY annual Sabbath that must be counted year by year. THEREFORE, THE JEWS

uAY OF THE MONTH. The Jewish date for Pentecost is incorrect because it does NOT need to be counted each year. If the Jews were right, Moses would have said that Pentecost shall be observed on the sixth day of Sivan.

The Jewish error developed, as we have seen, when the Pharisees used the day after an annual sabbath instead of “THE SABBATH”-the WEEKLY sabbath -as Moses said. (Lev. 23 : 1 5 ) By nsing the morrow after the weekly sabbath which comes during the days of unleav- ened bread, the day of Pentecost will always fall on a certain day of the week, but the day of the month will have to be counted because the weekly sabbath does not always fall on the same day of the month each year.

Now let us consider the customary view that Pentecost must occur on Sun- day-a paganized view which crept into the church from sun-worship and which Protestants and Catholics have inherited alike.

The cause for placing Pentecost on Sunday is based on the error of counting “Saturdays” instead of weeks. Pentecost is not the feast of “Saturdays” but the feast of weeks. (Exodus 34:22). Moses says to count seven full WEEKS (Deut. 16:7) and the day after that is Pente- cost. This feast is not in the end of the seventh week, but “after your weeks be out,” the fiftieth day (Num. 2 8 : 2 6 ) .

ARE WRONG I N PT.ACINC, IT ON A FIXFn

May, 1052 The GOOD NEWS

It was numbered from the DAY that Israel first began to reap the grain (Deut . 1 6 : 9 ) . This day is specifically mentioned in Lev. 23:15. “Ye shall count unto you from the morrow after THE sabbath, from the day that brought the sheaf of the wave offering. So God wants us to count from a Sun- day. the day the sheaf of, grain was cut.

How to Count Pentecost Now let’s count. O n e day f r o m today

is not today, but tomorrow. One day from Sunday is Monday. Two dnys from Sunday is Tuesday. One week from Sunday is Sunday. Seven weeks or forty- nine days from Sunday is Sunday. But Pentecost is AFTER seven weeks o r forty- nine days. It is FIFTY days from Sun- day. Therefore it MUST ALWAYS FALL O N A MONDAY!

The mistake of counting “Saturdays” instead of weeks is based on an incorrect translation in the common versions of Leviticus 23: 15,16. It rends “seven s;ihh:irhs shall he complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall you number fifty days.” T h e word here translated “sabbath” can also mean “ICSL” or ”seven” or “WEEK.” Thcreforc we need to let the Bible determine what is the proper meaning in this

The same Hebrew word that Moses used in Leviticus 23: 15 and 16 was also used by the apostles and disciples in its Greek form t o mean “week,” as in Matthew 28:l; Mark 16:2 and I Cor. 16:2. Here it would be as foolish t o

’ render the word “week” by “sabbath” as i t is to rranslarc Leviticus 23 : 16 by “sabbath,” because fifty days from Sun- day is a Monday-the morrow after the seventh week, not Sunday-the morrow after the seventh “sabbath.”

y e

place.

Both JEWISH A N D CATHOLIC VER- SIONS RENDER THIS WORD CORRECT1.I’ AS “WEEK.” The Douay or Catholic Version for Leviticus 23: 15,16 reads: “You shall count therefore from the morrow after the sabbath. wherein you offered the sheaf of the first fruirs, secen fir11 weeks, even unto the morrow df tr t the .rez,enth week be expired, that is to say f i f t y days.”

As absolute proof that this verse should he translated “after the seventh week,” turn to Deut. 16 :o and Num. 78:26 where the word week is translated from a different word-shabua- which NEVER means sabbath. but always week. Since in these verses the Hebrew words used never mean the sabbath. and since seven weeks-forty-nine days -from a Sunday is a Sunday, the fiftieth day must be Monday. Hence, the real meaning of Lev. 23:16 is “the morrow after the seventh week” as any other translation would necessitate 11 contra-

diction of scripture. Some also do not quite understand

the meaning of counting from one day f o another. A week from Sunday is the N E X T Sunday, and seven weeks from a Sunday is seven Sundays away. But we are to count t o the fiftieth day, that is, t o the completion of Monday so wc have the full fifty days. This is.explained in Leviticus 23:32 where one counts f iorn the end of the evening--not the beginning-of the ninth day t o the completion of the evening of the tenth day, making one whole day. Thus we are to m i i n t from the end of Sunday, the day the wave sheaf was offered, to the end of Monday, which is the day of Pente- cost. Pentecost is the last or fiftieth day.

Yes, the Catholics and the Jews kn0.w that Pentecost is to be numbered fifty days or seven full weeks from Sunday, the day the wave sheaf was offered. Yet NEITHER of them knows how to figure correctly.

Why did God plan to have Pentecost always fall on a Monday?

Because, since the resurrected Christ is the first of the firstfruits and was accepted by the Father on the Sunday after his resurrcctiori-portrayed by the wave sheaf offered on the fir.rt day of the week ---then we who are second in order to bc re,iped--“aftcrwards they that are Christ’s at his coming”-are pictured by having the feast of firstfruits or Pente- cost fall on the SECOND DAY OF THE WEEK or hlonday.

Yes, Pentecost always falls on a Mon- d ~ y . The New Testament Church was founded on a Monday! T h e Holy Spirit did not descend fifry days after the resurrection, becnuse the resurrection was not on Sunday. ’The wave sheaf did NOT picture the resurrection of Christ, but the rr.iurrci-ted Chrirt being accepted of the Fnther on Sunday, the day after His rexirrecrion. Compare John 20: 17 with Matthew 28:O to find the time when Christ firsr ascended to the Father t ( i Ilc ;tccep[ed of Him. Also write for the tree booklet “Does Easter Really Contritctnorare the Rewrrecrion?”

For those of V I I I who may not previ- ciiisly h:i\ e rcad the article explaining I X N , P C i i t c o w is t o be observed, here I \ . I bric 1 suiiinixy. It is an annual sab- b;uii and occurs on June 2nd of this year, beginning at sunset the previous evening. The preparation of food (Exo- dus 12 : 16 ) is the only labor God permits on an annual sabbath. Where possible this day should be kept by as- sembling with others o f like faith since i c is a commanded assembly. (Lev. 2 1 : 4 ) Otherwise it can be kept in your own home. This year let’s follow the example of the pure original church of God h y b t ~ c , / ) h , q hol) this day God nude hilly.

What YOU Will Be Like

Continued from page 4 his kingdom . . . and after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James and John . . . up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them and his face did shine as the sun and his raiment was white as light.” (Matthew 16:28 and 17:1-2) .

But there are other places that give us a more complete picture of the GLORI- FIED BODY we will have (Rev. 1: 13-16).

Also Daniel 12:3: ”and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life . . . and thcy that be wise S I I A L L S H I N E as the BRIGHTNESS of the FIRMAMENT: and they that turn many to righteousness A S THE STARS forever.”

Other Characteristics In as much as we will be begotten oi

the FATHER, we will be BETTER THAN THE ANGELS: “Being made .ro much better than the ange1.r for unto which of the angels said H e . . . Thou art My son this day have I begotten thee?” (Hebrews 1 : 4 - 5 ) .

There will be no SEX as we know i t in the spirit form: “For in the resurrec-

in marriage but are as the angels of God in heaven.” (Matthew 22 : 30) . Also Galatians 1:28: “There is neither Jew nor Greek . . . MALE nor FEMALE: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Yet we shall recognize one another as Mary Magadalene did Jesus ( John 20: 16).

Our work will be so EFFORTLESS and PLEASANT after our resurrection when we have our NEW BODIES that Paul spoke of it as a REST: “Let us LABOR therefore to enter that REST lest any man should fall after the same example of unbelief.” ( Hebrews 4: 11 ) . We will no longer have physical handicaps as lameness, blindness or missing members.

Mind of God Human beings are not born with the

mind of God. Here is the kind of mind the BIBLE says that we naturally have: “For from within, out of the heart of men ( A L L men) proceed evil thoughts, adultries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness. wickedness, deceit, lasciv- iousness, an evil eye. . . .” (Mark 7:21- 2 2 ) . Christ spoke this of the mind or attitude you and 1 are born with!

Why is this? GOD MADE us THAT WAY: “I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7: 18). “The CARNAL (natural) M I N D is enmity against God: for it is NOT SUBJECT TO THE LAW of God” (Rorn. 8:6-7 ) ,

tion they neither marry nor are b’ ’lven


YET obcdicncr to the LAW OF GOD is die ONLY WAY thdt will bring HAP- PINESS! HUT God ha.r constructed us s o that we would NOT WANT T o FOL- !.ow HIS JAWS but our own ways instead.

W H Y ? so t!int WE W1I.I. TRY EVERY O’rHER WAY OF IJVING and discover that, REGARDLESS of what WE THINK, the only satisfactory WAY is to live and think by the FATHER’S LAWS! This is how we develop the CHARACTER of God -by coming to right knowledge and by acting upon it.

Some of us, becoming discouraged with the ways of living in this world, learn of the true way to live, repent, believe, are baptized and receive the Ho- !y Spirit-we are begotten of the Father. by our o?cw wicntal efforts we cannot ovccome this NATURAL or CARNAL M I N D that we are born with.

BUT God has given 11s a part of his ouwz relf to aid us. If we will nourish this earnest (down payment) of the Spirit which i s the nature and mind of God by which wc are begotten (I1 Cur- inthians l:]? ;. it will grozu at the ex- penje of r l e carnal mind-and will re- strain the carnal mind: “For the flesh lusteth il)’,Liinst the Spirit, and the Spirit against th:. fic:s!i: and these are con- t r a ry the- ?we r o the other: so that ye cannot A) the thing ye would.” “Walk i:? the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5 : 16-17).

Thus we acqtdire the same mind func- t ion ing in our physical brain as was in Christ. (Phillipians 2: 5 ) . After this mortal body dies, we will be resurrected with a .spirittlal iiiiiirl and body if we hnvc grown enrmgli r o be born (Ro- mans 8 : 6 ) , At our birth WE WILL IN-

CHRIST I N F~ILL-we will have no mortal mind to bother 11s any more! It will have perished with the flesh.

DEED HAVE THE MIND OF GOD AND

All will have ONE MIND then (Phil- lipians .1: 27 ) , and God will have COM- PLETED his New Testament covenant with us: “I will PUT MY LAW INTO THEIR M I N D and WRITE THEM IN THEIR HEARTS . . . and they shall not teach every man his neighbor. . . .” (Hebrews 8:8-10-11). ,

“I DELIGHT to do THY WILL, o my God; yea THY LAW Is WITHIN MY HEART.” ( Psalms 40: 8 ) .

__ ~ -____

What Is the Place Jesus Is Preparing?

Continued f r o m page 9 ment of God, the members of which are t o be horn of God. Being born of God makes the entire kingdom, then, the family of God. “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3 : 5 ) That is why Jesus used the ancient temple as a physical type of the spiritual family or k ingdom of God.

Now it is becoming obvious why our place or position in Gods government has had to be prepared in heaven by Jesus. We could not receive the Holy Spirit, the only means by which we can enter the kingdom. until Christ ascended. (John 16:7) Chrisr prepares our place or position in the kingdom by being our High Priest, interceding for us and by giving us the Spirit of God. The places or positions, the responsibilities of‘ office are bring prepared by training us human beings to fill those offices. Jesus, as our High Priest, has been call- ing, justifying and perfecting each of us for His kingdom so that when the kingdom of God comes to this earth (Mat. 6: l o ) , each position or place in it will be fully prepared by having one of us fill that particular office. If Christ were not High Priest in heaven, the

kingdom would not be prepared, i t would have none to fill its offices.

“I Will Come Again” Althougl; Christ had to go to heaven

he said: “If I go and prepare a place for you, I W I L L COME AGAIN, and receive you unto mysell; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Here is Jesus’ own promise that H e is coming again! No- tice, it does not say anywhere in these verses that we go to heaven. I t says just the opposite.

Jesus will return f rom heaven in clouds. W e are going to inert Him in the air. ( I Thess. 4:15-17) At that time Jesus will give us our place or position in the kingdom, according to how well we do with what we have been given. Some of us are going to have a smaller reward or responsibiliry because we have not grown spiritually as we ought. Study the parable in Luke 19: 12-27.

Having received our responsibilities, we shall descend with ]e.rzts to the Mount of Olives that same day. It is that same day that Christ comes to earth, not returns to heaven. (Zechariah 14:4 ) He is coming to set up the kingdom o n the earth! Since we inherit the kingdom, we, too, will be on this earth, not heaven.

So Christians are not going to heaven d t e r z!!. W e are E 5e with Jesus heic on this earth--“tlia~ where I am, there ye may be also.” We shall be ruling with Christ over the nations. (Rev. 2 0 : 4 ) And after that, the new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven-it does not say we go to heaven but it comes down out of heaven-to the new earth. Even the Father Himself will dwell among us here on the new earth where we shall live and reign forever. (Rev. 2 2 : 3 - 5 )

No wonder Jesus said the meek shall inherit ths earth. ( Mat. 5 : 5 ) ‘The righteous are never to be removed from rhis earth. (Pro. 10:/0)

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